The State of the Rule of Law in Pakistan
March 9, 2007 is an epoch-making day for Pakistani citizens. With Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s (at the time Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan) blunt refusal to bow down before the unconstitutional demand of the military elite, and his unconstitutional removal by General Musharraf, at the same time Chief of Army Staff and President of Pakistan, the movement for his restoration with time transformed into a movement for the Rule of Law in Pakistan.
… It’s just a co-incidence that the following article, which probably first time talks of the state of the Rule of Law in Pakistan, was completed on February 10, 2007. I realized the fact later.
This article was carried by The News in its edition of Political Economy on March 18, 2007 with a different title, The State of Misrule. Then, Business Recorder published it in two parts on March 24, and 25, 2007, without
Polio Ke Qatray, Chaychak Ka Teeka
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Political moral depravity
Politics and morality are not the same thing. Politics is not religion nor is it a moral code. It is the art and the science of reaching, keeping and sustaining power. It is a system of making, or breaking alliances, for the common cause.
… [Nafisa Shah, PPP MNA]
Lately in Pakistan, politics, politicians, political parties and their supporters have become an antithesis of whatever we associate with the name of morality. But the way this truth manifests itself under the present Pakistan Peoples Party government is dangerously alarming.
We know our given world is amoral, and it is we who try to make it morally meaningful. The physical and botanical world is absolutely beyond any moral apprehension. The zoological world shows some crude or not so crude signs of actions which may appear as morally motivated, but sure they are not. Taking care of each other, or of those who
Uboori Hukoomat: Khawaab Ya Sazish
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Who is promoting the Sons and Daughters of politicians – 1
I read regularly The News, The Express Tribune, and Urdu daily Express.
… The only reason I read The Express Tribune is that International Herald Tribune comes with it almost free. Just in Rs. 19 one can read both papers.
So, that’s my limitation. I keep an eye how prominently these newspapers place pictures / statements of the Sons and Daughters of politicians. Of course, it’s the prerogative of the administration and the editorial staff of these newspapers how and where they place the pictures / statements of the Sons and Daughters of politicians. But at the same time, as a reader it’s my right to judge what such coverage amounts to and why the Sons and Daughters of politicians are given such prominence. In most of such coverage, I don’t see any news value, relevance, or any such thing, which could justify their placement at such top
Aik Aur Azeem Dhoaka
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State Aristocracy’s Loot of Pakistan – 25
I started collecting and sharing this information just because of my focus on how the state aristocracy makes use of its capture of the state to further its interests and loot; however, there is so much to it appearing daily in the newspapers that to me it requires another blog fully devoted to the state aristocracy’s appropriation of the citizens’ tax money and misuse of the public authority.
… Hence, I think I should give only the links to such news items and of course from such newspapers which I happen to see.
PM Ashraf is a defaulter, CDA informs SC
[The News, March 23, 2013]
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PM Ashraf is a defaulter, CDA informs SC
[The News, March 23, 2013]
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PML-Q ex-MNA has two fake educational certificates
[The News, March 23, 2013]
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Majority oppose fake degree holders, defaulters in polls
[The News, March 23, 2013]
Siyasatdanon Ki Nakaami Ki ‘‘Aamad’’
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State Aristocracy’s Pakistan – 24
I started collecting and sharing this information just because of my focus on how the state aristocracy makes use of its capture of the state to further its interests and loot; however, there is so much to it appearing daily in the newspapers that to me it requires another blog fully devoted to the state aristocracy’s appropriation of the citizens’ tax money and misuse of the public authority.
… Hence, I think I should give only the links to such news items and of course from such newspapers which I happen to see.
سندھ اسیمبلی: ارکان جاتے جاتے اپنے لیے مراعات کا بل منظور کرا گئے۔ سپیکرز، وزیرِ اعلیٰ، معاونین، ارکان کی تنخواہوں، الاؤنسز میں بھاری اضافہ ہوگا۔
[Roznama Express, March 16, 2013]
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115 out of 167 Sindh MPs did not pay tax
[The News, March 16, 2013]
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Key appointment made on lucrative post
[The News,
Finished reading: Mazameen-e-Sharar, Jild Haftam
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Democracy or rule of law
So the time has come whence the citizens of Pakistan need to decide what they want: democracy or rule of law.
… The verdict of the Supreme Court (Jan 10) re the implementation of its own NRO judgment, in option 6 reads:
“The constitutional balance vis-à-vis trichotomy and separation of powers between the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive is very delicately poised and if in a given situation the Executive is bent upon defying a final judicial verdict and is ready to go to any limit in such defiance then instead of insisting upon the Executive to implement the judicial verdict and thereby running the risk of bringing down the constitutional structure itself this Court may exercise judicial restraint and leave the matter to the better judgment of the people of the country or their representatives in the Parliament to appropriately deal with the delinquent. After all the ultimate ownership
Kaalay Sheeshon Wali Gaariyan Aur Gora Qanoon
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Finished reading: A History of Freedom of Thought
Finished reading today (March 27), A History of Freedom of Thought, by J. B. Bury, M.A., F.B.A.
… This 272 page book was first published by Henry Holt and Company, London in 1913.
As I read a lot, it is difficult, for want of time, to prepare a summary of the theme and insights the book contains. However, I may mention whether the book I read is worth reading and why.
This history of the freedom of thought ought to be considered an essential reading. It narrates all the stages freedom of thought has undergone, and tries to explicate the layers of this absolutely indispensable category of human condition.
Given its subject-matter, I wonder will this ever be translated into Urdu!
Have a look at the Contents of the book:
I – Introductory
II – Reason Free (Greece and Rome)
III – Reason in Prison (The Middle Ages)
IV – Prospect
How they use the citizens’ tax money to promote their personal-political interests!
Here are certain advertisements published in various newspapers:
… 
[The Express Tribune, December 11, 2012]
[روزنامہ ایکسپریس لاہور، 8 مارچ، 2013]
[The Express Tribune, The News, March 14, 2013]
[The Express Tribune, March 14, 2013]
[The News, March 15, 2013]
[The Express Tribune, March 15, 2013]
[The Express Tribune, The News, March 16, 2013]
[The Express Tribune, March 18, 2013]
[روزنامہ ایکسپریس لاہور، مارچ 18، 2013]
Wizarat-e-Uzma Ke Tamannaee
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State Aristocracy’s Pakistan – 23
I started collecting and sharing this information just because of my focus on how the state aristocracy makes use of its capture of the state to further its interests and loot; however, there is so much to it appearing daily in the newspapers that to me it requires another blog fully devoted to the state aristocracy’s appropriation of the citizens’ tax money and misuse of the public authority.
… Hence, I think I should give only the links to such news items and of course from such newspapers which I happen to see.
ٹپی سے 8 پولیس موبائلز اور 50 اہل کاروں کے پیسے لے کر خزانے میں جمع کرائے جائیں: چیف جسٹس سپریم کورٹ
[Roznama Express, March 9, 2013]
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The sorry state of health of a medical regulator
[The News, March 10, 2013]
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Govt commits contempt of court by reappointing Awan in PTA
[The News,
Rules as moral signposts
Recently I participated in the 2nd Annual Conference (Islam and the Institutions of a Free Society) of the Istanbul Network for Liberty, which was held in Islamabad from 28th February to 2nd March.
… The following paper was read in its 1st Session: Sociological, Philosophical and Legal Considerations of Shariah: The Rule of Law in Islam, on 1st March. The Session was chaired by Dr. Khalid Masood.
Rules as moral signposts – a brief sojourn in the realm of philosophy of religion
The initial and original inspiration the entity of religion resorts to take advantage of, and exudes is moral.
The spirit religions imbibe is ultimately moralistic.
That gives them an aura of appeal irresistible to their audience.
However, with time, spread, reach, following, politicking, and the unexpected encounters on the road, they start losing that moral exuberance.
So much so that a day comes when
Tehreek-e-Insaaf Aur Paarty Intikhabaat
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Buzdil Atum Bum
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“Rape Season” in India – a comment
What has gone wrong with the Indians?
… It seems they are in for a Rape Season or a “Rape Jug,” just like a “Kal Jug?”
As the outrage against the rape of an Indian girl-student, Jyoti Singh, who died later, got out of hands in India, a spate of news reports of more and more rapes and rape-attempts started pouring in; as if it’s a contagious crime!
No doubt, that’s symptomatic of an ingrained inhuman attitude towards womenfolk!
A few days earlier, we some friends were enjoying our talk about all the intellectual issues including a favorite of Pakistani Left, i.e. how Pakistan came in to being. A thought just occurred to me:
“Yeah, had there been no Pakistan, we would have been part of a procession against rape in India now!”